LOADING COORDINATES
ONTO YOUR GPS DEVICE

The method of loading coordinates onto your GPS device varies depending on what type of device you have: Inputting Coordinates by Hand

If the device does not connect directly to the computer via an interface cable, enter coordinates into the device by hand. This process will be different for each device. Check the device’s manual for instructions. Send to GPS

If you have a DeLorme, Magellan or Garmin that connects directly to a computer through an interface cable, use the “Send to GPS” function to send a cache listing directly to a GPS device. The first time you use this function, you will be instructed to download the appropriate plug-in for your GPS device. Download LOC or GPX file

If you have any model of GPS device with an interface cable, you can download the cache listing as a LOC file or GPX file. LOC files contain basic information about a cache, including coordinates, cache name and difficulty and terrain ratings. GPX files are available for premium members and include all of this data as well as the cache description, hints and the 20 most recent logs. For most GPS devices, you will need to download third-party geocaching software to read LOC or GPX files. Some devices, like the Magellan Triton and Garmin

One day while bike riding in 2006, Eric Dalton got lost in the woods in Sayerville.

“I love exploring,” says Dalton, 38. “I always used to get out every Sunday, and I would try to get lost. I would try to find something new. And I’d find something new, (like) a park.”

After that last navigation mishap, though, his mother-in-law bought him a Garmin eTrex.

Now the Aberdeen resident, along with roughly six million people, uses a GPS for a hobby that fits their outdoor exploration craze: geocaching.

It is defined as a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices, according to Groundspeak, a company that runs Geocaching.com. The website is a resource and entire online community for those who take up the activity.

Armed with GPS units and latitude and longitude coordinates, cachers take to the trail to find clandestine caches that come in the form of steel canisters or fake beehives holding tiny trinkets or log books for visitors to leave their names.

There are more than two million hidden caches (and counting) throughout the world, and more than 15,000 in New Jersey. Many can be found throughout Morris County, in parks, along trails or near roads, stuck with magnets to guardrails or hanging from tree branches.

Follow the rules

The outdoorsy hobby happened randomly in May 2000 after the U.S. government discontinued its selective availability. As a result, GPS technology immediately had upgraded accuracies, Groundspeak says.

That spurred the mind of one man, who wanted to test out this new and improved technology of a GPS. He filled a bucket with puzzles, games and books and hid it in the woods in Oregon.

He noted its geographic coordinates and then posted them in an Internet GPS users forum — and invited members to try and find it on their own GPS devices, according to Groundspeak.

The game caught on from there, Groundspeak says. The community is filled with families, hikers, athletes and more, it adds.

“It really started as a bunch of hi-tech enthusiasts ... then it really changed dramatically when smartphones could do it in 2010, 2011,” Dalton says. . “The amount of them (participants) quadrupled in two years.”

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The adventure begins when someone hides an item somewhere in the world and then logs its coordinates online with a brief description.

It then opens the door for people perusing lists of caches in their area.

When one pops up, he/she uploads the coordinates to their device and ventures outdoors to track them down.

But what exactly is a geocache?

Often, they are plastic containers, buckets and ammunition cans, but their sizes vary, Dalton says. People can find them in numerous public places such as urban areas, forests, parks, playgrounds, underwater, on the side of a city street or even outside of a Wal-Mart.

Step by step

Here are some geocaching guidelines:

• Plug coordinates into a GPS or smartphone.

• Navigate your way to the cache’s location by following the GPS route.

• Once you get there, look around closely. Geocaches can be anywhere — on the ground, in a tree, buried under logs, etc. Check the cache’s online description for clues on its whereabouts.

• The geocache is normally marked with a symbol — a smiley face, or even an official geocache sticker.

• Open the container and peek at the items inside. Don’t forget to sign the log book with your name and any notes of your adventure.

• If you take one of the items, you must trade it for something of equal or greater value.

• When finished, log your find on Geocaching.com.

In their online descriptions, caches also have difficulty ratings — meaning how tough will it be to find the “treasure.” Here, people get hints on the cache’s size and visibility, says Dalton, a member of the group Central Jersey Geocaching.

There are also terrain ratings, which let explorers know if they will be perusing for a cache in open land, or to give a heads up on other natural landmarks — a hill or a stream, for example.

Perhaps you want to hide some caches and see who can find them. Dalton says the legal rules vary, though. People must get permission from land managers or related parties if they can hide geocaches on the land, he adds.

If you do get permission from the appropriate party, Groundspeak says to hide the cache, gather the accurate coordinates for its location, and submit it for publication on the official website.

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Dalton has hidden caches, too. Often, he paints a camouflage pattern or smiley face on containers as a symbol to let people know they have found his cache. Inside, he sticks golf pencils with a business card with the Central Jersey Geocaching group information.

The thrill

From his geocaching experience, Dalton advises participants to always carry a pen — to log their name and notes in the log book as proof you found the cache.

He also says the geocaching community is civil, for the most part. There have been times when he runs into people looking for the same cache as him.

“We’re almost always very friendly with each other, unless you’re looking to be the first one (to find a cache),” Dalton says.

Though most of the cache’s contents have very low monetary value, Dalton says it’s the thrill of discovering hidden items that gets people amped. That’s how it was for him the first time he went geocaching.

Dalton looked at programs to install on his device in 2006, and he found some geocaching software. After perusing the topic and rules, he looked up the coordinates of a cache hidden at the Belmar marina.

“I’m looking around,” says Dalton. “Eventually, I found it ... a cookie tin stuffed between two bushes.”

And then he was hooked.

“I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ I found it just using this device,” recalls Dalton, who now also uses a Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx to find caches. “It can be addictive.”

Dalton says he has found several caches in clever spots. Once on a road trip in Massachusetts, he found one hidden in a road sign.

“The guy somehow made the sign himself — I opened up the sign and there were some compartments (with caches),” Dalton says.

But the most interesting thing Dalton discovered while geocaching is actually not an object itself.

“Inner peace,” he says. “I was working in New York City [years ago] and feeling way more urban, so I went back to my Pennsylvania roots, camping, hiking.”

He even went geocaching during off hours while on business trips in Ireland and England.

It has also evolved to be a family hobby, Dalton says. Now, he takes his 2-year-old daughter on several of his scavenger hunts, especially to playgrounds.